The Interest of Gaming

While walking around the studies and rooms at school, there is a gripping atmosphere. It’s 7 o’clock and homework has finished. The commotion has died down in the hallway and all is silent. I’m intrigued. Why the silence? Has the teacher threatened everyone with double detention? No. The new computer game has just been released.

Yes, the “utterly motionless” face is now one common in most households. While many parents admire the power of games as a distraction while they can crack open a bottle of Chardonnay downstairs in peace, the pathetic war zones being witnessed in the upstairs room have little take on reality. In fact, they are so far away that looking away is an effort. Children who alienate themselves in amongst pixels and silicon have a social life in an entirely on-line community.

It could be said that computer games and the online network we now live in can be beneficial. Studies have shown the positive effect of the “twitch and jerk” on the console. Reaction times of so-called “gamers” are in fact a lot quicker than normal. While adults can spend their time deploring the death of libraries and reading, our generation could be getting it right. Playing these games and using the Internet allows us to access information quicker as well as filing through millions of chips of useless information. To put it simply, we get what we need more quickly, an action relatable to “killing the baddies” to achieve the goal.

However, this same effect is not all sunshine. While those taped to the computer screen could be quicker, their patience is lost. The depth of thought required for these activities is nothing more than a few brain cells deep. In fact, an animal could complete some of the simpler games.

Those that argue that skills learned “give young people a taste of a career” have a tenuous case. Cyber skills are not “essentials in any job” and are hardly comparable to the real world. Pushing down Alt-F3 is not...